Scott's travel adventure

Scott headed home today while I stayed in Seattle for my conference.  We hoped he would have a smooth trip home because they were calling for storms in Kansas City around the time he was scheduled to arrive.

I was relieved when he said he was on the plane in Denver ready to leave for KC - looked like he would arrive as planned and be able to get the boys and jump back into our normal schedule.  Then, I got a text from him saying that his plane blew a tire and was returning to Denver and would be met with firetrucks on the runway.  Um...what?

It was scary not knowing what was going on, but he sent me a lot of updates which helped me feel a little better. He was able to get this picture of the tire since they flew a smaller plane from Denver to KC and you get in/out on the runway.

They found a new plane for them and they were on their way after an hour or two delay.  Thankfully, he arrived safe and sound in KC.

Seattle Day 3

Since we've covered most of the tourist spots we wanted to hit downtown, we decided to rent a car and get out of town on Monday.  Scott had seen information about a Boeing Factory Tour and thought it looked interesting.  I was kind of 'eh' about the idea because I thought it would just be a bunch of old planes, but I was willing to go if he really wanted to see it.  When he explained that we would actually be going where they were MAKING the planes, I was much more excited.

We drove about 30 minutes north of Seattle to the factory where Boeing builds airplanes.  For the tour, you are not allowed to bring phones, cameras,  purses, backpacks....basically nothing is allowed except you.  We watched a short video about Boeing, then boarded a bus that drove us across the airfield and into the factory.

It was really cool to see the various ways that they build the jets - each type of jet has it's own manufacturing strategy.  Some move the plane down an assembly line, some build in multiple stations and some bring in components from around the world and assemble here.

The tarmac was full of 787 dreamliners ready to go on test flights and/or go to their final home.


When we were finishing our tour, this American Airlines 787 returned to the factory.  We wondered if the American Airlines team had been taking it on a test flight.  We learned all about that process on our tour.  :)


They moved this plane from behind the visitors center to over by the factory.  We don't know who it belonged to because it didn't have a brand on it yet.


After lunch at a delicious Italian place (again, thanks to Yelp), we headed to Chateau Ste Michelle for a wine tasting.


They have beautiful grounds, so we walked around for a bit before it was time for our tour.


Do you think that barrel would fit in my checked bag? :)


View of the bottling line - they bottle whites at this facility.


They had cool art all over the building and a fun gift shop.


Next up was a trip to the Ballard Locks.  Boats come through the locks when they go from Lake Washington to the Puget Sound.  When we got there, there were no boats in sight, so we went over to check out the salmon ladder.


Since the locks block the salmon from moving from the lake to the sound, they created these salmon ladders to help the fish get through.  If you look closely at the bottom of the window on the right side, you can see a salmon.


When we came up from looking at the salmon ladder, we were excited to see there was a barge headed into the locks.  I was excited to see the bridge go up as well.


The tug pushed the barge into this channel, then a gate shut behind him.  They started pumping water in and the water level raised pretty quickly.


When the water level was even with that of the Puget sound, the other gate opened and off he went.  Pretty amazing!


They also have beautiful gardens that we walked through.  I've never seen flowers like this - anyone know what they are?  I loved them!!


And this bush was gorgeous - it looked like upside down Easter lillies


We had a few more ideas of places we would like to go, but we had dinner reservations at 6:30pm and wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to get through traffic and walk to dinner.  We made it to dinner early, but that meant we lucked into a table overlooking the market.  The food was fantastic - we really enjoyed it.  And, it had the best iced tea of all the places we ate in Seattle.  I thought since Seattle was such a coffee city, I would find a ton of tea options, but sadly, that was not true.  Or, I was just not looking in the right place!


And this dessert - chocolate and peanut butter - talk about a perfect combination!

The boys weekend adventure

While we were in Seattle, the boys were spolied by both sets of grandparents - we're so lucky that everyone was so willing and able to help us!  Linda and Leland were at our house when we left, then they took the boys to Karsten's soccer game where my parents met them and picked them up.

I was worried about how Liam would go with the transition, but when I asked my mom how they were doing that afternoon, I got this picture.  They were enjoying a movie and popcorn - not at all missing us! :)


All that grandparent fun wears a guy out - they slept good at grandma and grandpa's house!

Seattle Day 2

Day two of our Seattle adventure began with the Duck tour.  Normally we're not big on organized tours, but we received great reviews on this from several people.  The 'duck' is an amphibious vehicle that was used in World War II.


The tour took us through town and over to Lake Union where the duck entered the water.


This sign has been around since the 50s and was the first power car wash in the US.


We were in the front seat which meant we got all the wind and got the best views as we were getting into the water.  I really like the retro look of this picture, and I didn't add any filters, the light must have confused my phone and this is what I ended up with.


We got to see great views of the city while on the water.


The house where Sleepless in Seattle was filmed is on this lake.  The house boats were amazing - some of them were very large!


Downtown Seattle skyline.  There are so many cranes because they have a bunch of construction in a new area where they're taking down a bunch of old buildings and building a technology corridor.


And, since my dad always takes panoramic photos, I thought I would give one a try.  I think I messed up a bit on the bottom left because it's a bit bitmapped.


Next we took the monorail over to Seattle Center to check out the Space Needle.


It was still foggy by the time we got to the top, but not so much that we couldn't see downtown or the water.








When we went back inside, we saw someone using the Space Needle app to take pictures like these. When you use the app and your camera over these circles, you get a different view.

Fireworks over the Space Needle are exciting!


Good thing we were there to hold it up!


So cool to see what is right under us.  We looked at this one for a while to see if there was a camera down there or if it was a static image.  In case you were curious too, it's a static image.


This one never got old...




Another view beneath us!


It gets pretty cloudy in Seattle!


This one makes me smile every time.


The Space Needle as a slide or cartoon.




Then we took one last picture before we headed out to find lunch.


Next we decided to walk back to Pike's Place Market and find some lunch along the way.  We not only managed to find lunch but found a cupcake shop as well - we deserve it after all that walking, right?  After picking up a few odds and ends, we headed back to the hotel to chill for a bit before we went to dinner.

I'm a big fan of Yelp and use it to find restaurants while we're traveling.  Unfortunately, I'm one of those annoying people who use it and rarely write reviews - I need to get better about that!!  We ate at a great sushi place for dinner - we couldn't be this close to the ocean and not have sushi!

Seattle adventure - Day 1

I had to go to Seattle for a conference, so Scott and I headed out a few days early to enjoy a long weekend together.  I had been to Seattle with my parents during high school and really enjoyed it, but this was Scott's first trip.  It's always hard to leave the boys, but we knew they were going to have a great time with my parents.  Plus, since Linda and Leland were still in town, Karsten got to have both sets of grandparents at his soccer game - what a lucky boy!

The sunrise was beautiful as we drove to the airport.  I think I entertained Scott while I was taking these pictures - he sees beautiful sunrises every morning on his way to work, but I leave later and the sun is already up.


After an uneventful trip (whew), we checked into our hotel then headed to Pike's Place market.  We tried to take the required selfie with the market sign in the background, but we both failed.  Scott's version was just the top of our heads and this was my attempt.  OOPS!


Next, we were on a mission to find a chowder place that my parents had raved about.  We knew we were in the right place when we found a tiny restaurant with a line out the door and around the corner.  The line went quickly, and the chowder was well worth the wait - I had smoked salmon chowder and Scott had seafood bisque - they were both delicious.


Then we walked around to see all of the booths in the market.  I wish we had vendors like this in our markets - how cool would it be to run out and pick up these huge shrimp for dinner.  Delish!


And, the flowers - wow!  This bouquet of flowers was $5!  There are beautiful bouquets at some of the markets around here, but are not this size or beautiful for $5!


We watched some fish get thrown at the famous Pike Place Fish Co.  It would be cool to order fish here and watch them throw your order to the guy for packaging.


After walking around for a bit, we went back to the hotel to rest and freshen up before dinner. Although our reservations weren't until later, we decided to go back down to the waterfront and have a drink and watch the sunset.  It was a beautiful evening and beautiful sunset.




We ate dinner at Elliot's, a place I remember eating at when I visited Seattle with my parents when I was in high school. We were talking to our server and learned that we were there on one of the last nights before Elliot's closed for 6 months due to a project renovating the sea wall.  Lucky us - thank goodness we made reservations that night and not one of the next few I had considered!